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Notes

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This drawing of an unknown nun is closely related to the series of portraits of Mère Poussepin Gwen John executed from 1913. The artist worked from a prayer card showing the 17th-century sister with her hands on a book. The unknown sitter here adopts the same pose, allowing the artist to study the costume and the arrangement of her hands. John varies the pose further in the completed paintings, producing a series of variations typical of her obsessive approach to the single figure. Such images reflect the artist’s passionate religious faith as a Catholic convert.

The Barber Institute of Fine Arts

Birmingham

Title

A Nun Seated at a Table

Date

1910s

Medium

black chalk on paper

Measurements

H 32.4 x W 23.5 cm

Accession number

2009.1

Acquisition method

purchased, 2009

Work type

Drawing

The Barber Institute of Fine Arts

University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, West Midlands B15 2TS England

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Artist or maker

Gwen John

1876–1939

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